News: Biodiversity and Sustainability

Read the latest news from the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin

Features

Take a Peek into What the Turtles Have Been Up To While They’re Away From the Turtle Pond

As students prepare to go on break, the turtles are away from the main campus, too.

Open mouth turtle

UT News

2024 Hamilton Book Award Grand Prize Goes to David Hillis for Homage to Texas Hill Country’s Biological Diversity

The Biodiversity Center director penned “Armadillos to Ziziphus,” a celebration of life in the Texas Hill Country.

A man in a hat and boots holds binoculars while standing on a rocky point looking over brushland and a sunset.

Features

Trick or Treat: Spooky Science to Give You a Scare

Halloween is a good season to treat yourself to some thrilling discoveries from scientists at UT Austin.

Hundreds of bats fly together, marring a backdrop of trees and a sunset.

Announcements

Natural Sciences Welcomes New Faculty Across the College

Familiar faces and newcomers alike are among the 13 newest tenured and tenure-track faculty members joining the college.

New faculty members 2024-2025

Features

Take a Tour of UT Through the Lens of Science

Spots that are a part of The University of Texas at Austin can serve purposes for both science learning and community R&R.

A turtle rests on a cement wall near a pond with the UT Tower reflected in the water.

Accolades

College of Natural Sciences Faculty Receive NSF CAREER Awards

The awards from the National Science Foundation support innovative work by earlier-career faculty.

Photos of five faculty members around the logo of the National Science Foundation

Research

The Lesser of Two Weevils: Size Differences in Some Insects Lead to Tradeoffs in the Competition for Mates

The largest males have bigger weapons, but smaller males have other advantages.

three jousting weevils on a wooden log

Research

For Rainforest Amphibians, the Bigger the Toes, the Higher They Go

In rainforests in Gabon, amphibians with larger toes relative to their body length are found higher in the forest canopy.

Photo of orange and brown frog leptopelis boulengeri on a tree branch

Features

What Will Extreme Weather Events Mean for Texas’s Favorite Bugs?

The answer matters for people, too, given how insects affect whole ecosystems.

A photo of a monarch butterfly on a yellow flower

Research

Targeted Grazing May Help Beat Invasive Buffelgrass

Researchers head to Kenya to unlock the weaknesses of invasive buffelgrass to combat it here in Texas.

Image of buffelgrass and cattle